


Definitely Counts.

by mogitz



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Childhood Friends, Cute, F/M, First Kiss, Fluff, Love, Oneshot, Romance, a little bit of healthy pining, because duh, to lovers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-28
Updated: 2018-11-28
Packaged: 2019-09-01 23:34:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,119
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16775167
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mogitz/pseuds/mogitz
Summary: Betty Cooper wasn’t dense; she always sort of knew that Jughead Jones liked her.The problem, however, was that Betty didn’t know she liked Jughead until the one day he randomly started dating a Serpent.





	Definitely Counts.

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Alisonrutherford](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Alisonrutherford/gifts).



> Little one-shot set sometime in Season 1 when Jughead was living with Archie, but Betty and Jughead are just friends. Happy birthday, Ali!

* * *

Betty Cooper wasn’t dense; she always sort of knew that Jughead Jones liked her.

Sure, he’d never come out and told her this, but she just had one of those feelings.

There were a few little things that made her wonder. She noticed the way his gaze always lingered just a little bit too long or the way his hand instinctively found the small of her back when he’d walk her to class. The way her name was always a smile on his usually melancholy lips.

The problem, however, was that Betty didn’t know she liked _Jughead_ until the one day he randomly started dating a Serpent.

She remembered that she was shell-shocked by this discovery.

“W-w-wait…” she stuttered, trying to wrap her head around what Veronica was telling her over milkshakes at Pop’s. “Jughead… _my_ Jughead is dating a Serpent?”

Veronica shrugged, her plum-manicured fingers delicately pinching the black straw in her thick, chocolate milkshake and stirring, “I mean… that’s what Archie told me.”

There was a tug on Betty’s heart, a dip in her breath. In the time she’d known Jughead (since they were five, more specifically), he’d _never_ shown too much interest in girls. To say this was coming from left field was a bit of an understatement.

“I’ll believe it when I see it,” Betty scoffed, shaking her golden ponytail.

Lo and behold, Betty met Jughead’s alleged girlfriend the very next day. Jughead brought her over to Archie’s, and Betty was over working on homework. Betty felt her cheeks flush with involuntary jealousy the moment they talked through the door together - it was true. It was _real._

_What fresh hell was this?_

Archie and Betty could only stare at the couple from the dining room table, their mouths slightly agape.

“Uh… Betts. Arch. This is Stella-” Jughead introduced, somewhat shyly.

 _Stella_ . Betty inwardly sighed - even her _name_ was cool.

She was pretty enough with her pale skin and violet hair— she rocked that Serpent jacket like it was her job and she was a professional. Betty suddenly felt incredibly _uncool_ her in her pastel pink sweater and pristine, white Keds… especially when Stella eyed his friends up and down with judgment.

“So. This is what Northsiders do on a weeknight…” she commented. Betty felt her face twist up in an expression she couldn’t control as she flatly asked, “you mean our _homework?_ ” 

“Uh… we’ll be in the garage,” Jughead mumbled quickly, pulling Stella along before she could offend anyone else.

As soon as they disappeared through the kitchen and out the back door, Betty found enough energy inside of her to turn to Archie and ask, “What the hell was _that?_ ”  
Archie only slowly shook his head, “That… was _Stella_... I guess...”

After a few stunned moments, Betty tried to focus her attention back down on her work, but she was in no mood for Punnett Squares. Suddenly, both Archie and Betty were jolted by the sound of loud music, blaring from the garage.

“ _Nice,_ ” Betty grumbled, shutting her textbook with a sharp _pop_.

Archie quirked an eyebrow at his disgruntled friend, “you alright over there?”

“I’m fine,” Betty snipped, but her cheeks were hot with anger and her eyes burned, and she couldn’t for the life of her figure out why. “I’m just going to study at home.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah. I’m not going to be able to concentrate over here.” Before Archie could ask her why, she made sure to add, “you know. With the music and all-”

“I could ask them to turn it dow-”

“Bye, Arch. See you tomorrow.” After the sound of her own voice, the only thing Betty heard was the back door slamming shut behind her, the wind cutting her back.

Betty went out through the back, clutching her books tightly to her chest as she passed the garage. She could hear rock music blasting through the thin, poorly insulated walls. Her most basic instinct was to hurry right by, but instead, she paused, curiosity gripping her. As she approached the garage door, Betty’s heart was pounding to the beat of the music… she knew whatever was going on in there, she didn’t want to see. Yet she couldn’t stop herself from letting her hand find the doorknob, anyway.

When she cracked the door and they peeked in, Betty saw Jughead laying the couch with Stella straddling him, her hands running up and down his chest. After that, her vision blurred red. Jealousy and anger flared in her within a second, and her stomach felt sick. She wanted to call out to them, interrupt… _whatever_ this was.

But Betty just left, slamming the door behind her loudly to make her presence known, anyway.  
And she knows it was a childish thing to do.

And going home and sitting at her vanity with angry tears in her eyes _also_ felt childish. But she didn’t know how Jughead could give her no warning on suddenly getting a girlfriend, o-or... _whatever_ that girl was to him.

Betty watched from her window as Jughead walked Stella down to the end of the driveway and her stomach sank as she watched them embrace and kiss goodbye. It stung more than she cared to admit, and for some reason, she couldn’t help but wonder what it would be like to kiss or be kissed by Jughead Jones.

Then she watched disappointedly as Jughead, her Jughead, lit up the end of a cigarette and headed back around Archie’s house to the backyard.  
That was almost worse than the kiss.

* * *

Betty was hoping maybe it was going to just be some dumb fling, but next time the whole gang met up at Pop’s, Jughead brought Stella along.

Betty was glad she wasn’t the only one put off by her. Everyone seemed pretty much afraid to even talk to her; Veronica _tried_ to maintain an air of niceness, but Stella did not return the favor. Cheryl, of course, looked at her like she had a disease. Archie just kept giving Jughead worried glances. 

Still, Betty couldn’t bring herself to be outwardly cruel toward Stella—it just wasn’t who she was. So she hid her distaste behind a tight smile and focused on polishing off her pink milkshake. She tried not to blush when Jughead’s arm randomly wrapped around her to reach over to Cheryl’s untouched fries. He gave Betty a sly smile and a slight wink as Cheryl was far too interested in her conversation with Josie to even notice the french-fry theft. She couldn’t help but reciprocate, but her smile disappeared when she saw Stella shooting daggers at her across the booth.

Jughead ended up dating her for two full weeks before Veronica told her that they broke up at Archie’s house.

“ _What?_ ” Betty breathed, her heart fluttering at the mere thought of Jughead being single again. 

“Yeah... I finally just told him that no one liked her... _especially_ you,” Veronica told her, a victorious grin curving her lips. 

Betty’s heart fell, “Wait, _huh?_ ” 

“I mean, it was sort of brilliant, right?” Veronica boasted, almost literally patting herself on the back. “No one liked her. But Jughead wasn’t going to dump her just because of that. Then I thought… whose opinion does Jughead value the _most?_ So, I told him that you wanted them to break up… and I guess he just did it.” 

“ _Just_ like that?” Betty wondered.

“Just like _that_ ,” Veronica nodded, proudly. Betty narrowed her eyes as she wondered if she was happy or upset that Veronica kind of threw her under the bus. But was Jughead upset? Did he actually _like_ that girl?

“Where is he now? Is he okay?”

Veronica gestured emptily toward Archie’s living room, “he’s somewhere around here. And Archie said he’s fine.”

 _Fine_ wasn’t very ideal, and Betty was sad to know if Jughead wasn’t _fine_ then Veronica made her the cause of it. She wasn’t angry, but she also didn’t didn’t want to get into a fight with Veronica, so she said she was going to head home for the night.

Betty packed up her things and said goodbye before calling out another goodbye to Archie in the kitchen, then took off.

It was dark now, and Betty was glad she literally only had to walk a few yards to her own house. There was a chill in the air, fall was right around the corner now. She dug into her pocket for her phone, wondering if she should shoot Jughead a text. She hadn’t seen him at Archie’s at all today and wanted to be sure her was okay.

Before she could open her messages, she heard someone calling out for her.

“Leaving so soon, Betts?”

She turned around but didn’t see him.

“Up here.”

She looked up and squinted through the darkness, finally seeing his figure outlined on the very edge of the roof. She could see the burning redness of a lit cigarette as he inhaled.

She sighed, her hands finding her hips as she scolded him, “Since when do you smoke, Jughead. What are you doing?”

He just chuckled, putting the lit cigarette out then flicking it off the back of the roof, “Yeah. Sorry… bad habit I picked up.”

Betty sighed again and crossed her arms, “From Stella?” She tried to hold the disdain from her voice but it trickled out anyway.

“From Stella.” Jughead confirmed, then cocked his head up, “Care to come up and join me?”

Betty bit her lip and kicked some tiny pebbles with her shoe, “I dunno-”

She wanted to tell him she was upset with him, but what right did she have to do that? He didn’t belong to her.

Jughead waved her up, “C’mon. I wanna talk to you.”

She could never say no to him, especially when he said stuff like that, so she began her climb up the lattice and vines on the side of his house until she reached the drain pipe then pulled herself up.

“Wow. _Impressive_ ,” he complimented when she dropped her body lazily beside him, dusting herself off. 

She smirked over at him and wiggled her head in a proud way, “I _am_ quite impressive, aren’t I?” 

“And so modest, too,” he chuckled, then wrapped an arm around her and brought her close to him. She would have normally basked in the feeling, but she only scrunched her nose and said, “Don’t take this the wrong way, Juggie… but you smell… _not_ great.” 

“Oh. Sorry,” he pulled away from her, taking his flannel off and throwing it to the ground, revealing his gray “S” t-shirt. Next, he dug in his jeans pocket for a piece of gum, sliding it in his mouth and chewing. He put his arm around her again and lowered his face close to hers, “ _Better?_ ” 

She gave a half-hearted shrug, making sure not to look him in the eye, “Not entirely.”

He laughed at her honesty, “I missed you and your candor, Ms. Cooper.”

“Yeah, well. _Me and my candor_ were still right here,” she said in a tone a bit too sulky. 

“Well, shucks, Betty. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you’re mad at me,” he said with a hint of amusement in his tone and a quirked eyebrow. She turned to object, but her their gaze met and her soft, pillowy bottom lip was caught beneath her white teeth. She bit down to keep from saying something overly catty.

Instead, she wondered, “Oh yeah? And what would give you that impression?”

“Well, firstly… Archie told me like a week ago.”

“Great,” she muttered, rolling her eyes. She crossed her arms over her chest in a bit of a huff, “Of _course_ he did.”

Jughead’s smirk fell from his lips as he lowered his head and his voice, “And secondly… I could just sense something was… _off_ with you.”

“Well, that’s shocking. You haven’t seemed all too aware of your surroundings lately. You’ve been a bit… distracted.”

“Ya know… it wouldn’t kill you to just admit that you missed me, too,” Jughead teased, his fingers tip-toeing up her arm until she nudged him in his side.

“You’re the worst, you know that?” she stuck out her lower lip and wrapped her arms around her knees.

“And you’re pretty cute when you pout, you know _that?_ ” he commented. He pressed his forehead to her temple and out of the corner of her eye, she could see him pouting out his lower lip as well. 

She closed her eyes and pressed against him. She turned her head slightly and she could feel his breath against her lips. She felt surprisingly calm despite knowing that if either one of them moved just a few inches they would be kissing.

“You’re cute when you’re jealous, too.”

She snapped her eyes open and leaned away, staring at him as though he told her he was an alien from another galaxy, “ _Excuse_ me?” 

He smirked, “C’mon, you don’t think I noticed? You’ve been acting someone kicked your puppy for the last two weeks. I think I’ve known you long enough to be able to tell when you’re jealous.” Jughead lowered his head and his gaze, his words becoming fainter as he added, “you got that way when Veronica blew into town and turned Archie’s head.”

Betty looked away from him, feeling a bit of anger rising in her, “Being sad is different than being jealous, Jughead.”

His fingers gently yet firmly pressed to her chin as he made her look at him again, “I never wanted to make you sad, Betty.”

Her eyebrows furrowed but she saw the sincerity in his eyes. She began to feel a bit nervous because this was the closest she’d ever been to him when it was dark and just the two of them, so she said, “What happened with Stella, anyway? She slink off to ensnare another sweet, innocent junior-detective somewhere?”

“ _HA!_ ” He unwrapped his arm from around her then leaned back on his elbows. She turned herself so she could look at him as he told her, “You’ll be happy to know she and her mom are moving to Centerville. Don't really think we can handle the distance.. "

“ _Oh_.”

She knew it wasn't the truth - not after what Veronica told her. But she didn't call him out on it.

Jughead looked up at her, still amused, but also like he wasn’t sure he should say the next thing on his mind.

But then he decided to, anyway.

“But, uh... I don’t think it would have worked out, anyway.”

“Why… why not?” Betty breathed; she could hear her heartbeat in her throat.

“I just don’t really think she was my type,” Jughead said, his fingers fidgeting with the frayed edges of his jeans. “Plus, she was a really sloppy kisser,” he added, even though Betty wished he hadn’t.

She scrunched up her face, “ _Ew…_ ” 

“Tell me about it. I thought it might get better with practice, but it was like going in for a dental cleaning.”

She laughed despite herself, smacking him lightly on the arm, “Okay, _gross, Jug_.”

“It _was_ gross.”

“You didn’t seem to mind it.” Jughead just waved her off with no real defense for that statement. Betty tucked some loose hair behind her ear, “But also, while I’m no expert, that definitely doesn’t seem... _normal._ ” 

His lips pursed together as he stared at her, and it was in the way that she knew he was thinking hard about something, “Come on. I’m sure our little girl-next-door isn’t all that innocent. I would guess you are _somewhat_ of a kissing expert.” 

She rolled her eyes at his humor, flatly wondering, “Since _when_ have you seen me with someone that I could be _kissing_ , Jughead?” Jughead’s face became smug as though he reached a genius conclusion, “You mean you’ve never been _kissed?_ ” 

Her face heated up quickly, and she was thankful for the darkness so he couldn’t see her blushing furiously, “not… _exactly…_ ” She decided her kiss with Veronica was not worth mentioning… nor did it count. And her kindergarten kiss with Archie didn’t count, either. In Betty’s mind, no. She hadn't had a real first kiss yet. _Big deal._ She was saving that title for someone _special._

“ _So_ what? It’s not like you’ve been kissing up the whole class either, Jughead- _”_

“No, no. You don’t have to get defensive about it,” he told her, sitting upright again, “It’s good. I’m pretty sure most of the girls at our school have already cashed in their V-card. It’s refreshing to know you’re still… well… _you_ know.” 

“Oh my God, Jughead…” she shook her head and looked toward the night sky, wondering how the hell they came to this particular conversation.

Then, without warning, he cupped her face and brought his face close to hers. When their eyes met her mind began racing and then his lips met hers and her mind froze. It was soft, chaste, and she gripped his wrist that was close to her face as her stomach clenched, causing her to let out a surprised yet joyous murmur. She instinctively moved her lips gently against his, basking in the quiet sounds made between them.

Then he ended the kiss. But gave her another quick kiss. Then one more. He smiled, chuckling, kissed her hurriedly one more time, and then moved away from her, though her eyes practically begged him for more.

“Sorry. I mean this when I say that I truly could _not_ resist,” his voice was low, husky, teasing. Betty struggled to find words, but Jughead didn’t. “So? How was it?” 

She folded in her lips, her whole mouth feeling numb and tingly, “Well… Not bad..."

"But?"

"But you taste like an ashtray.”

What she _meant_ to say was, cigarettes on his breath or not, it was amazing, and quite possibly _everything_ she was missing in her life. 

He never lost his smirk as he droned quietly, “ _Wow_ . You are stone-cold, Betty Cooper.” 

Betty breathed out her nose into a small laugh, her eyes still never losing their brightness despite her last comment. She laid down next to him, her head on his shoulder as she curled into his side. His arms came around her. She felt a tingle of excitement when she heard him say, “next time I’ll make sure I brush first.”

“Hmm… how about you just don’t smoke anymore, instead. Then we _both_ win.”

Betty couldn't see his face, but she could hear the smile in his voice as he said, “Okay. Sounds like a plan.”

But now… Betty couldn’t stop thinking about _next time_ and hoping it was sooner than later.

One thing was for sure… _That_ kiss?

Oh, it _definitely_ counted.

* * *

_Fin_


End file.
